UN Report on the State of the Children

Oh, the babies are getting big!

They go zoom-zoom-zoom...and pull themselves up on our big pumpkin (still waiting to be carved.) Margaret loves to reach across the coffee table and blindly grab what she can...hm? A blue crayon! Oh, yum! During dinner yesterday, she silently crossed the dining room floor, reached up to my chair seat, and gave me a little goose. Hey, Margaret! I swung her into the air, she giggled in her Margaret way -- "heh-heh-heh" -- and then I realized, "Oh, Margaret! You smell like cat food!"


They love the cat food! It's dry and "healthy weight formula," and I figure, oh, how bad can it be? (If I just had ONE baby to keep an eye on, maybe I'd be more vigilant..but I was known to have a taste for Gainesburgers myself.) Poor Kitty. They also like to dip their hands in her water. Dip. Dip. Splash! Splash!

If you throw yourself on the floor, they'll throw themselves on top. And, even though there's just two of them (JUST TWO!?), it feels like you're covered in babies. Josephine pats your face and pulls your lips. Margaret huffs her way all over your chest and legs. They're like puppies. They chase after rolling balls. Slooowly. I don't think Lucy was ever like this. She didn't play with toys like they do. Throwing things, banging things, turning bowls of applesauce upside down. (Maybe I was better at watching Lucy?)

Nah. It's them. They're goofy girls!

They'll eat pretty much anything, although Josephine is insane about Cheerios and Baby-Yo. She'll actually lean across her tray, mouth wide open like a bird, for a spoonful of vanilla yo. And then she complains when it's Margaret's turn to get some. But if it's something like organic squash and cereal, she purses her lips, sticks out the tip of her tongue, and does a better job than Condoleeza Rice at saying, "That missile will NOT be fired."


And Josephine blows raspberries! All the time. When she's happy, when she's miffed. And I think she's getting more assertive with the Jolly Steamroller. The other day, Josephine has a pacifier in her mouth. Margaret eyed it, reached across slowly, plucked it from her lips and stuck it in her own mouth. Oooh! What happened, Josephine? Her eyes wide, she reached across, knocked it out of Margaret's mouth, slowly picked it up, turned it over, and returned it to its rightful place.

They do take Lucy's toys too. Oh yes. I heard her talking to them yesterday, "Naughty babies!" But mostly she comes crying to me, "Mommyyyy! Margaret/Josephine has my, my, my thing!" Usually she's talking about these very cool wooden dollhouse people that my mother brought down from CT. (Dollhouse to come later...) Margaret sticks their heads in her mouth, leaving their arms and legs swinging from her lips. I tell Lucy, "You can take that away from her. It's not a baby toy. Just give her something else." And then she patiently repeats the same to Margaret, "Margaret! I'm taking that away from you because it is not a baby toy. So here," and then she dumps a puzzle in her lap.

On Wednesday, Lucy-lu and Daddy-o missed the bus. They were jogging down the hill, Lucy on David's shoulders, when it chugged by. "Ohhh, that STINKS," David exclaimed. "Wha' happened, Daddy?" she demanded. "We missed the bus again," he complained. Lucy giggled. "I think it's funny," she said. "Huh?" he said. "I think it's FUNNY when we miss the bus," she said again, and added, "Now let's go back to the house for a sausage."